Cathay Pacific has canceled dozens of flights, after the airline temporarily grounded its Airbus A350 fleet following an emergency landing. This will have impacts on Cathay Pacific’s operations for several days. Let’s start by talking about how this problem was discovered, and what this means for passengers.
Cathay Pacific A350 returns to Hong Kong after fire warning
The Aviation Herald has the details of a recent Cathay Pacific incident. On Monday, September 2, 2024, Cathay Pacific flight CX383 was supposed to fly from Hong Kong (HKG) to Zurich (ZRH). The flight was operated by a five-year-old Airbus A350-1000 with the registration code B-LXI. Shortly after the jet departed Hong Kong, the crew stopped the climb, after receiving a right hand engine fire warning.
The crew worked through checklists, including shutting down the engine, and discharging one fire bottle. The fire warning ultimately ceased, so the jet dumped fuel and returned to Hong Kong, where it landed around 70 minutes after it departed. For what it’s worth, the A350-1000 uses the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engine, while the smaller A350-900 variant uses the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engine.
Cathay Pacific ultimately had a replacement aircraft ready, so passengers ended up flying to Zurich with a roughly four hour delay. Ordinarily when an incident like this happens, it doesn’t have bigger implications for the fleet. However, this situation was different…
Cathay Pacific identifies A350 engine component failure
Cathay Pacific consulted with Rolls-Royce regarding this issue, and within hours made the decision to temporarily ground its Airbus A350 fleet, so that all the jets can be inspected. Cathay Pacific has a total of 48 Airbus A350s, including both the -900 and -1000 variant.
It’s believed that this issue involves a flexible fuel line being damaged. Inspections revealed that other aircraft had similar issues, meaning some parts need replacing. Cathay Pacific has reportedly identified this issue on 15 different jets, and the current expectation is that it will take several days for all A350s to be operational again. All A350s should be flying again by Saturday. Dozens of flights have been canceled as a result of this issue.
Note that some A350s are already returning to service, after being inspected. So if you’re flying on a Cathay Pacific A350, you have nothing to worry about.
According to a Cathay Pacific spokesperson:
“This component was the first of its type to suffer such failure on any A350 aircraft worldwide. We immediately brought this issue to the attention of the aircraft and engine manufacturers, as well as our regulators. As a precautionary measure, we also proactively initiated a fleet-wide inspection of our 48 A350 aircraft.”
“Aircraft cleared for operation will return to service, while those identified with technical issues will undergo further repair and maintenance work. Meanwhile, we are liaising with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department and aircraft and engine manufacturers. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding.”
I have a couple of thoughts and questions on this, and let me acknowledge upfront that aircraft maintenance is (obviously) beyond my area of expertise:
- Aircraft experience inflight incidents all the time, so it’s interesting that this was taken much more seriously than most others issues, and caused the fleet to be grounded immediately
- Given that this was reportedly the first such failure suffered by any A350 worldwide, and given that other Cathay Pacific jets were found to have the same issue, I’m surprised there’s not more of a global response in terms of other A350 operators inspecting and/or grounding aircraft
Bottom line
A Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 had to return to Hong Kong after the jet encountered a right hand engine fire warning shortly after takeoff. It was determined that this was due to a flexible fuel line being damaged. After consulting with Rolls-Royce, Cathay Pacific decided to carry out an inspection of its entire A350 fleet. This revealed that some other aircraft had the same issue, and it’s the first time that this was discovered on any A350 worldwide.
This defect is being fixed on impacted aircraft, and all Cathay Pacific A350s should be flying again by the weekend. I just find it a little strange how only Cathay Pacific seems to be impacted by this for now, and not other A350 operators, even though they use the same engines.
What do you make of this Cathay Pacific A350 engine situation?
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